This invention relates to connection of data terminals to a data network through wireless access points, and in particular to fault reporting in the event of failure of a primary connection between an access point and the data network.
Connection to data networks such as the Internet has become an integral part of many domestic and small business activities. The rapid wide-scale adoption of this technology by domestic and small to medium business enterprises had been facilitated by the use of the pre-existing fixed telephone network to connect the customer premises to the network. Such lines use a wide variety of technologies ranging from modern optical fibre-to-the-premises, to older electrical connections using copper (and even aluminium) lines, with joints & junctions. Even these older lines are in many cases capable of delivering broadband internet services, although many were never designed to do so.
However, all types of line may develop faults that may either completely interrupt the signals, or may only permit a degraded service (voice but no broadband, intermittent faults etc.). Additionally, faults and failures may occur in the broadband service despite the underlying network being apparently fault-free. There are two classes of such faults, referred to here as “hard” and “soft”. Hard faults have some physical cause, where the transmission properties of the line are affected. One such example is when the ringing of an incoming telephony call can cause the broadband signal to be lost. Soft faults may be caused by network-level authentication failures, software or database problems in the ISP's equipment, configuration or billing issues etc. Whilst it is important that all faults are identified and rectified, intermittent faults such as these may be particularly costly for the ISP, and annoying for the customer. Furthermore, in a deregulated market the physical line may be provided by one operator and the internet service by another. In such a case, it may be unclear in the event of a failure which provider is responsible, or even to whom the fault should be reported.
Typically, one or more user terminals will connect to the public network through a local area network (LAN) controlled by a access point, which mediates data messages between the user terminal and the internet, including providing modem functions. Connection between the terminal and the access point may be by an Ethernet or Powerline connection, but increasingly wireless connection is used (a Wireless Local Area Network “WLAN”) as this allows terminals to be placed anywhere within wireless range of the access point.
Terminals connected to the same access point may also communicate between each other without going through the external network. To provide privacy for such activity, and to ensure the access point is not misused by unauthorised persons to gain access to the internet, access points typically have access protection to ensure only users with the correct access credentials can use it.
Public wireless access points also exist which allow any users with appropriate terminal equipment to connect to the Internet. These access points may be dedicated public access points provided by commercial enterprises to attract custom, or parts of the capacity of privately-owned access points made available to the public by their owners in exchange for reciprocal access rights to other participants' access points.
Failure of the primary connection between an access point and the network can be problematic as users have become reliant on their internet connections for many business and domestic purposes In many cases a service provider's helpdesk, or a troubleshooting application, can guide the user to establish a replacement connection to the Internet through a public wireless access point whilst the fault in the primary connection is under repair.
Fault diagnostic systems have existed for many years, and generally involve making measurements of certain physical properties such as connectivity, impedance, leakage, frequency response etc Some of these tests can be performed entirely remotely, whilst others require test equipment to be present at both ends of the line. Therefore, whilst several types of fault can be automatically identified by the Internet Service Provider, there are other types that require the customer to detect and report them.
In some cases, the internet connection may fail despite the physical characteristics of the line appearing to be within normal limits, and voice calls operating correctly. There are other situations where the two services interact; for example ringing current may interrupt the broadband service. These latter faults may be particularly difficult to diagnose, owing to their intermittent nature, and the interaction of multiple services or network layers
Many troubleshooting operations can be made available to the user on the Internet, but if it is the Internet connection itself which has failed, that information is not accessible unless the user has had the foresight to download it in advance. Consequently, such failures account for a very high proportion of calls to network operators' helpdesks—and even that course of action may not be available if the user's telephone line uses the same connection as the Internet connection, and the fault has affected both services.
Many wireless access points intended for small business or domestic use are supplied with two separate network interfaces: a private interface for the subscribed broadband service, and a public interface to provide access to subscribers to the public service. The two interfaces use the same fixed-line access connection, the architecture of the access point keeps the two interfaces completely separate, so that public-side users cannot access the private side of the access point, and also private traffic takes priority over public traffic.
In residential areas, there will typically be multiple access points visible, within wireless communication range of each other. These access points have to be aware of each other in order to select a channel on which to operate which is free from interference from neighbouring access points. If a user terminal can detect more than one access point, the access point to which the user has access rights to the private side has to be identified (either by a user input or by data stored on the user terminal) before connection can be attempted
There would normally be no reason to wish to connect to the public side of an adjacent access point if a user is within range of his own, private access point. However in a fault situation, the public access offered by an adjacent line and access point could be useful, since it could be used to report the fault on the failed user's access point.
The applicant company's existing International Patent Application WO2014/083296 describes a process for connecting a failed line's access point to an adjacent public access point in order for the failed line's user to maintain internet access. He may use this access to report the faulty access point. However, this requires the user to initiate the process. Consequently if a fault develops when a user is not present, he will not discover the fault until he wishes to use the internet connection.
According to the present invention, there is provided a wireless access point having a wireless interface and a network interface, and an access control system for controlling communication by way of the wireless interface, and comprising a monitor for detecting a loss of connection to a network at the network interface, wherein the access control system is arranged to establish wireless connection through the wireless interface and a further wireless access point to a network-based service centre and to transmit a message to the service centre indicative of the loss of connection
The wireless access point preferably has a store for authentication data, allowing communication with the network-based service centre to be established automatically.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of reporting to a network-based service platform a loss of connection between a network connection of a wireless access point and a network, wherein, when the wireless access point detects a loss of connection at the network interface, it establishes wireless contact with a second wireless access point, having a second network interface, and transmits a predetermined fault report message to a predetermined network platform address by way of the second wireless access point and the second network interface.
Typically, a fault report message is transmitted by way of a network-based access control system, which is arranged to normally perform an authentication process on messages received from the second wireless access point. The network based access control system may be arranged to over-ride the authentication process for messages received from the network directed to the predetermined network platform address such that the message may be forwarded to the predetermined platform without authentication. Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention also provides a network-based service platform for a communications network comprising a fault reporting system configured to receive reports of network faults, each report including data identifying a network address from which the report originates, the platform comprising an authentication processor for exchanging data with a client terminal from which the fault report originates to identify the origin and location of the fault report and to confirm its authenticity. The service platform may also provide other services, for which a user interaction is required to provide authentication before access is permitted. To allow automatic fault reporting, the network-based service platform preferably incorporates an access control system for mediating requests from access points for transmission to the service platform, the access control system being arranged to perform a first authentication process to control access to a plurality of services provided by the service platform, and arranged such that the authentication process is over-ridden for requests to the fault reporting system, thereby allowing automatic unauthenticated access to the fault reporting system, which can itself perform a second, automatic authentication process, sufficient to allow reporting of the fault and its acknowledgement. Such automatic access can be limited to a single transaction.
Alternatively, the wireless access point may be arranged to generate authentication data for this process automatically
Preferably, the authentication data used for access to the predetermined network platform address is distinct from access data stored by the network access point for access to the network by user terminals connecting to the access point by way of the wireless interface, and may only provide limited access for a predetermined period
Following detection of a loss of connection at the network interface, when a user terminal next establishes wireless connection with the wireless access point, the wireless access point may transmit a message to the user terminal over the wireless interface, to report the loss of network connection. This activity may also be used to trigger a further report to the service platform, indicative of the activity at the access point, allowing the fault to be prioritised at the service platform.
The initial report may also include data relating to recent activity of the access point, allowing heavily used access points to be prioritised.
This allows connection or service faults to be automatically reported even when the line itself has failed, provided the access point itself is still operational. It does this by identifying a public wireless access point within its range, and then temporarily connecting to the public wireless interface on the adjacent access point, and log a fault report by proxying through the adjacent access point.
This automatic fault reporting saves costs for the service provider as it reduces the need for a helpdesk, and may offer improved fault-fixing Additionally, some faults would be auto-reported before the customer even becomes aware of them: for example if the fault arises when the customer is asleep or away from home, providing the access point has been left powered up and connected. Consequently the fault can be identified, reported, and hopefully rectified, before the user next wishes to use the connection.
In situations where the internet service and physical telephone line are provided by different suppliers, auto-reporting could reduce customer confusion, and may simplify the processes of the two suppliers, since the report details may assist identifying the precise failure, as measurements can be made from both sides of the failed link
The invention may be implemented by software installed in the access point, either on manufacture, or by subsequent upgrade of the programming of the access point by installation of software provided on a physical carrier (e.g. a CD-ROM) or by download over the internet connection
It will be noted that the access point initiating the relay function may do so through any public access point still connected to the backhaul network. There is no requirement for that access point to be modified, nor indeed for it to have a private-side capability. It simply detects the initiating access point as if it were a normal user of the public wireless capability. The user's access point would be handled like any other public user, for example being allocated lower priority than any dedicated users of the public access point. However, a fault report, and any instructions sent to the user's access point for example to perform diagnostic tests, can be of relatively low bandwidth.
In the preferred embodiment the access point is configured to suspend advertising its presence whilst the backhaul connection is unavailable. This will prevent further wireless devices attempting to connect to it, and will also prevent “loops” occurring, so that, for example, if two neighbouring access points both lose their respective primary connections they will not each attempt to connect through the other